Snapshots in time

I decided to look back at this blog from when I was pregnant with Noah and can't believe that it has been almost 2 years since I last posted.  This is a lot like my life's attempt at keeping a journal... I do great for chunks of time and then just forget about it.  Still, a snapshot in time is better than none at all, right?  I would like to think that I will keep this blog current - that family and friends can stay connected this way.  But really - I like snapshots... so I am sure it will be more like that.  Did you ever wonder what missionaries do in the MTC in their spare time? (photo by Elder Seth Gremmert)

December 19 - 3 weeks & 2 days

Where does the time go? I know...eating every 3 hours, changing diapers, changing sleepers, changing Mommy's clothes, changing diapers and sleepers again, finally getting to sleep and starting all over again! Oh yeah... and don't forget running to the Doctor's to check that Noah is growing. Whew!

Noah went up to 6 lbs 9 oz at his two week check up. Everyone was so happy that he had gained more than his birthweight. The doctor gave us the OK to try on-demand nursing (but still wanted it to be every three hours...huh?!?) and said that we could drop the supplimental bottles and see how he did. 24 hours later, Rosie was ready to quit. You can only stand so many feedings trying to get a preemie to latch on for 45 minuteseach time. So...we spent a week using some guards that make it easier for the baby and still weighed him every 3-4 days. At 3 weeks he was 6 lbs 14 oz, which is OK....but not the 7 oz per week that they want to see. We got to be weighed again today - still 6 lbs 14 oz. We see the Doctor again 12/26 and if he doesn't really catch on to nursing and gain, we will need to go back to supplimenting with bottles.

Rosie also found a "bubble" on the back of Noah's head last weekend. It is probably a hematoma or a cyst and we will have a cranial ultrasound on the afternoon of Christmas Eve at Children's Hospital. It is about the diameter of a peanut M&M but the Doctor can feel bone underneath it, so that is a great sign. I guess that this is just another thing that is common with preemies.....

We can't believe how much has happened these last few weeks... we didn't even expect Noah to arrive until sometime between now and the 29th! We spend a lot of time marveling at how amazing Noah is and considering all the times that we thought the pregnancy had terminated and all the close calls with his delivery. Thanks for the dinners, rides for our kids and extra concern and prayers. We are so grateful for our friends and family, especially during this holiday season.

Here's some more pictures for all you self pronounced "cyber-stalkers" who have been emailing me wanting more pictures. We are glad that you like the weblog. We are not sure when we will stop.... but for now, everyone seems to enjoy it.

Aaron and Noah are spending some quality male bonding time. Noah looks so tiny!


Noah cheers on Seth at his first wrestling tournament (Sedro Wooley) in style with hoodie, hat and sweats made from big brother Jacob's old sweat pants


Even the preemie outfits are a little too big, but he loves his "soothie"


Here's all the "brothers" and Zoey posing for Mom's Christmas photo

December 6, 2007 - 10 days old

Noah weighed 6lbs 2 oz yesterday...he is doing great. Rosie's doctor said that she is healing well also and to just remember to not carry anything heavier than Noah. She can't wait to be back to doing everything. Here's some pictures from the last few days:


Eli trying to wake Noah


Jacob and Noah catchin' some zzzzz



Nothin' like a warm brother


He is so tiny compared to Jacob's hand


Fast asleep in the sweater knit by Aunt Eva

11-26-07 through 12-1-07

Our busy first 5 days....

Meeting "the brothers"

Our first evening and night were full of tests and times when Noah was doing just great (like how his 1 minute Apgar score was a 9!) and others where there was serious concern. By morning, we realized that he needed to have higher calorie formula and that it was too much effort for him to try to nurse. His blood sugars were all over and he could be very lethargic. We were able to get him to keep 30 ml (which was great!) of formula using a special preemie nipple that requires no sucking on his part at about 6am. It took an hour to get that amount in, but it was a step in the right direction. We also started the Jaundice game that morning and learned how to be sure to measure everything that went in and came out of Noah. We check his temperature every hour also. Bruising on Noah and Rosie from how aggressive the c-section was starts coming to the surface. Again, we are thankful for miracles and for how well things are going.

Tuesday, 11-27-07

During this day Noah increased his feedings to 40 ml every 3 hours. We still had 2 times where he lost the entire feeding and his blood sugars dipped, but each time that it was the “determining test” that would send him to the special care nursery if they weren’t up, his numbers would be just above the cut-off. We feel so blessed that he gets to stay with his mom! The doctors have no idea when he could go home; it just depends on the blood sugars and his temperature control. He still is in the highest range for jaundice that a baby can be before needing the lights. He has a knack of being right on the edge of needing more intervention so he keeps getting test after test after test. His poor heels! Darren has no vacation or sick leave time until Friday, so the days are long until he can show up in the late afternoon each day. We again were grateful that Noah could still be in the room with Rosie so we could spend some family time with our new little miracle. Test results came back for Noah and Rosie: Noah’s hematocrit was good at 47, but Rosie’s only 27. It is another indicator that the Lord blessed us during the c-section. Our visitors are a little limited to minimize Noah’s exposure. We are told to spend a few weeks being careful… visitors can come, but need to wash with anti-bacterial soap and just look – not to “pass him around”. Grandma Doherty and her friend Billy came to visit today as well as Lori and Coleman Oviatt after an ER visit for Coleman, Aaron visiting for lunch and Kimberly Kosorok, who popped in long enough to drop off a bag of clothes from her baby that was early. Noah is soooo tiny that even the smallest hospital tops look like dresses on him. We will have to get new baby clothes since we had gotten things that were all for the 8-12 lb range. We had an idea that Noah might come early with all the pre-term labor, but we figured that 8 lbs was tiny compared to his brothers’ birth weights (9-4, 10-4, 10-3, 10-8… all at 38 weeks)

Wednesday, 11-28-07

Rosie’s doctor cleared her in the morning to come home Wednesday night with directions to be checked the next day. She drew lines on Rosie’s stomach to show how far the bruising had spread so anyone checking her could see and track the changes. Noah is now keeping 45 ml at each feeding and we only had 1 feeding that all came back up. His blood sugars dipped after that, but were still 1 point above the cut-off! He is doing better with his temperature but it still flexes all over the place. He weighed 6lbs 2 oz today which was great. The nurses keep saying that Rosie’s “mom-experience” is what is keeping him out of the special care nursery. Each feeding takes about 1 hour and you have to be very gentle and patient with burping, or he loses everything. They had him try to nurse at the start of every 3rd or 4th feeding. He can latch on and suck for 2-3 sucks, but then he just relaxes and falls asleep as if to say “This is sooo exhausting!” We saw a rooting reflex once today… yea! He definitely does not like anyone touching his feet…. Too many pokes. (sad face) The process begins to test Noah and see if he could tolerate going home. One thing is to see if he can sit in his car seat without aspirating of stressing his heart. Aaron came at lunch again and brought our car seat. He is too small!!! Aaron saves the day by running to Babies R Us and getting a car seat that has extra adjustors for preemies. They hook him up to an EKG and to an oxygen meter and take him and his car seat to the special care nursery to sit and be observed for an hour and a half. He passed! Another miracle and we are so thankful. At about 5:00 it is decided that we can go home, but with follow-up appointments for 9am the next morning. Aaron, Jacob and Darren pack up all the stuff that can accumulate during a long stay in the hospital, we go through another round of checks and just after 8pm we are headed to the car. Because we don’t have all the necessary things for a “half-size” baby, Noah has his first trip to the store on the way home. Luckily, Target has a wheelchair and Darren pushes Rosie and Noah to get tiny diapers, formula, and a few other necessary items to get through the first day at home. It was the quickest Target shopping in history… we were back in the car in 15 minutes. Needless to say, Rosie and Noah were both asleep before the car left the parking lot!

Thursday, 11-29-07

We need to wake Noah and make sure that he eats every 3 hours. We still track everything that goes in and out. Aaron drives to the follow appointments which take 2 hours! His jaundice is still too high so we are off to the lab for more blood work. He weighed 5lbs 12 oz so we are still above the cut-off for losing 10% of his birth weight. He passed his hearing screening and Aaron gets us back home for some rest. We wait all day for lab results and finally at almost 5:00 get a hold of the results. He doesn’t need lights today, but see the doctor again tomorrow. Rosie is so grateful for friends who have brought dinners in… it is so nice to just heat things up for lunch. This whole bottle feeding/pumping thing is time consuming! We can’t wait until he can just nurse. We watch to see if the yellow moves to his legs, monitor his temperature and try to rouse him several times between feedings to check for lethargy. Noah had his first bath at home….everyone got involved except for Seth who amazingly slept through the entire circus on the couch that is about 10 feet from the kitchen sink. Noah looks like a little doll…We have never seen such skinny legs in our family!

Noah likes the water on his skin...but what a lovely shade of yellow he is!

So cute and actually awake after his bath at 4 days old.

Friday 11-30-07

Darren’s vacation date has rolled over so he was at home today. He had put in for vacation this day weeks ago, but he was originally going to get some things done around the house…how quickly things change. We went to the doctor and Noah was completely full of milk but weighed 5lbs 12 oz. At the hospital, they take where he is in his feeding schedule into account, but now that we are “on the outside” they don’t take note of it. He was empty and ready to eat yesterday when he weighed 5lb 12oz, so in reality he lost a little more, but it won’t really matter unless it looks like a big drop the next time he is weighed. His jaundice is still right under that upper cut-off and he has switched off of formula and didn’t have a big drop, so that is wonderful. He actually was rooting for food two times today; it is nice to see those reflexes kicking in. We all went to CHS to see Seth in the play…his last one since he is a senior. Noah was a gem and quietly had is bottle and slept through most of the play. We kept him all bundled up and Rosie got settled into a seat early to keep interactions with others to a minimum. We know that everyone is happy that he is here and healthy, but we need to protect him from all those germs out there for just a little while.

Saturday 12-1-07

Noah actually woke up hungry about a half hour before his 3 hour feeding mark! How many people are excited when their newborn wakes up rooting all over his blanket at 2:30 in the morning hungry? That was a great sign. We had a quiet day at home resting after such a busy Friday night. Noah and Rosie are both pretty tired! He has increased the amount he eats to about 50 ml every 3 hours and all his feedings have stayed down in the last 24 hours. He still looks yellow, but has lots of wet and messy diapers, so that shows that his liver is working on processing all that yellow. The rest of the family is spurred on by the snowfall and are putting up the Christmas tree. Our dog, Zoey, has finally gotten used to the baby noises and she doesn’t look like she needs to come and try to help with Noah every time he squeaks.

Sleepy Noah - all wrapped up to keep warm at 4 days old

Monday, November 26, 2007 - 35 weeks, 2 days

The ultrasound showed that almost all the fluid was gone around Noah. That is a sign that the placenta is not functioning correctly since there wasn't a leak anywhere. Noah hadn't really grown in the week since the last ultrasound either. As soon as Darren arrived at the hospital from work, they started discussing delivery options with us. It was clear that Noah was coming very soon and that it would be better for him to be out instead of in. The doctors presented pros and cons of trying labor and of a C-section with the low placenta and past bleeding, but said that they could have things all set to dive into an emergency section if we wanted to try labor.





Darren and I asked for a few minutes to ask the Lord about our decision and we were surprised when all the medical personnell respectfully left the room and told us to take all the time that we needed. We both felt that both Noah and I would be in too much danger if we tried labor and within just a few minutes, I was walking into the surgery area...it was the first time I had walked out of the hospital room in a week. As the surgery proceeded, Darren and I could feel an intensity and focus from the doctors and nurses as Noah just wasn't coming out. Several people were pushing on my ribs and the doctor tried the extractor and ultimately foreceps to deliver him through the incision. As it turns out, the placenta was very low (2cm from the cervix) and had to be cut through for the surgery and the cord was coming out from the edge of the placenta rather than the center, right between his head and the cervix. The doctor said over and over, "This surgery was such a good decision" as she went on to explain that the cord would have just ruptured if we had tried labor. We were amazed and thankful that we were being watched over once again.





After a slight delay, Noah started cryng and pinked right up. We both felt a huge relief and we know that all our prayers are heard. Thank you for yours....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!!!!!
Noah Dean Gremmert
11-26-07 @ 5:48 pm
6lbs 4 ounces - 35 weeks gestation

Monday, November 26, 2007 - 35 weeks, 2 days

On Sunday, we had gotten the word that Rosie might be able to go home today using two oral meds to control contractions, but a little bleeding Sunday afternoon may have foiled our plans. We are waiting for an ultrasound today to see if the cause of the bleeds can be determined, and then we will know more.

Noah still looks great and his heartrate has perfect responses to movement and contractions. We are very thankful for that.

11-23-07 - 34 weeks 6 days

Rosie is all the way off the magnesium sulfate and taking a different oral medication along with terb as needed to keep contractions down to less than 6 per hour. It takes a couple days for the "mag" to get all the way out of someone's system, so she is still recovering from that and at the hospital for monitoring and observation. We made it through the transition without any more bleeding, so that is great. Noah is still really active and has the nurses chasing him all around with the monitor to try and keep his heartrate on the strips. His responses to the contractions and his movements are healthy and normal. The day that they can come home seems to always be "maybe in about 48 hours"; so really... we don't know. There is talk about Saturday... but time will tell. Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers!

November 21, 2007 - 34 weeks 4 days

Monday 11/19

Darren and I headed off to the ultrasound and we got to see great pictures of Noah and how well he has been growing. It is so amazing! We could even see the hair on his head and the little curls at the back. He has been growing great and weighs about 6.5 lbs. The placenta was still pretty low so the doctor wanted to do an internal ultrasound to get accurate measurements. I went to empty my bladdar first, and we were all shocked that when I stood to use the restroom I was bleeding pretty heavy. Luckily, We were just in another part of the hospital, so they whisked me to labor and delivery. It was frightening, but since we had just been seeing Noah jump around on the screen, we felt pretty lucky that we knew that he was doing well.

I was quickly prepped for possible emergency section and pumped full of meds that hurried Noah's lung development, slowed the contractions and eventually stopped the bleeding. Now we have been waiting the 48 hours that the lung development shots need to be the most effective and the will try tomorrow (THANKSGIVING!) to taper me onto a medication to slow contractions that I can take at home. Darren says that I just didn't want to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year! :) If that transition doesn't work, I will stay on the magnesium sulfate (yuck is putting it very mildly) in the hospital until his lungs are mature enough. His lung development willl be determined by amnio, if we need to go that route.

The bleeding was probably caused by my placenta seperating from the uterine wall so I will be on strict bedrest until delivery and the placenta will probably not tolerate labor. We are looking at a C-section almost no matter what. The great news is that Noah is showing absolutely no signs of stress. They have us hooked up to all kinds of machines and he is doing great. Your prayers must be working!

Thanks to everyone who has been helping transport our kids and for your calls and prayers. Although I normally would like visitors, it will have to wait until I can get off this magnesium. I have a whole new level of respect for people who have dealt with long term illnesses and strong chemicals to combat them since it has taken me basically all afternoon just to do this post. Please understand if I am not up to a visit or talking on the phone. I do appreciate your concern and don't worry, my kids really will call if they need any help! Our phone bills attest that they know how to use phones :)

Overall, we feel very optimistic that things will turn out great, we just don'tknow exactly when that will be :) Please continue to keep us in your prayers and thanks again for everyone's love and support.

November 16, 2007 - 34 weeks

Everytime that we reach another weekend and another week has gone by I am amazed! Since the last post we have had a couple more runs to the hospital but all is well. If he is like his brothers, he will stay in there for a couple more weeks after they let me stop taking the medication at 36 weeks though! Noah is growing well and is very active. The boys have a good time feeling him kick and punch them and we have gotten the tiny clothes and blankets all washed and ready.

A final ultrasound is scheduled for Monday so we can check where the placenta has ended up. If it is still too close to the cervix, we will schedule a c-section at the next doctor's appointment. With Thanksgiving in there, I don't see her again until the week after the ultrasound on Tuesday 11-27 so we will all have to wait a while to hear her decision. We should get a little bit of an idea how big he is from the ultrasound too.

I am sick of "taking it easy" and wish I could do everything again. My days are spent counting and timing contractions, drinking water and modifying my activity. I am already so sick of contractions that labor sounds untolerable. Many days, I have to "let go" of everything that I thought I was going to do or pick just one thing for the day. Everything aches...it doesn't matter if I am sitting, standing or laying down. I wake up about every hour through the night either from contractions or to use the bathroom. (poor Darren too!) It may actually be a relief to wake every 2-3 hours with a baby....Please bear with me if I am grumpy or tired....Maybe I should just hibernate until Noah shows up!

November 1, 2007 - 31 weeks, 5 days

After having to leave work early twice last week and barely making it through 1st period on Monday without too many contractions (even with the terb), the doctor has put me on modified bedrest. So, Monday was my last day teaching. The nice thing about being off my feet more is that I don't have to take so much medication to keep the contractions down to less than 6 per hour.

Noah is still comfortable laying sideways which makes it so there is nothing putting pressure on my cervix and causing lots of dialation. Unless the placenta moves drastically in the next 4 weeks, it won't matter how he is positioned and right now, it is helping keep him in there! We have another ultrasound 11/19 to check to see if the placenta has moved. If not, we will be scheduling a C-section.

Thanks to everyone who was able to come to our shower or sent gifts. It felt a little odd to even have one for a 5th baby, but friends kept assuring me that after a 14 year gap that everyone knew that we were starting over! The gifts are wonderful and since my chances to go shopping will be slim, it really helps! Of course, I can visit Target.com from my laptop, much to Darren's dissapointment! :o) I just wish I could have visited with everyone more. Many of you have followed this roller-coaster pregnancy closely and I know that you are just as excited to see him get here as we are. I want you all to know that your support and prayers have made all these months of complications easier. These last few weeks will drag for me, but we are almost there!